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You Should Never Send to Know "For Whom the SYN ACKs"

Ben authored the For Whom the SYN ACKs poem, which is available as a poster. Watch the video below for a dramatic reading of the poem.

One of the reasons that I like IT Operations is because of the people. On the whole, IT Operations professionals appreciate the need to work together to solve problems. True, prejudices and egos can get in the way. But when things break or slow down, there's a tacit understanding that everyone in IT shares a responsibility to make things better.

A few months ago, one of our software engineers shared a poem with the office that perfectly communicated this sense of camaraderie. He borrowed an idea from John Donne, the 16th century English poet, that in the same way that the demise of one person impacts all of mankind, so too does the failure of one part of the IT environment affect all the rest.

No packet is an island,Entire of itself.Each is a piece of the payload,A part of the flow.If a frame be dropped by a switch,The network is the less.As well as if a server rack lost power.As well as if a VM of thy coworkers'Or of thine own were shut down.Any packets's drop diminishes me,Because I am involved in IT.And therefore, never send to knowFor whom the SYN ACKs,It ACKs for thee.

We made a poster of the poem that you can get for free. Just follow ExtraHop on Twitter and DM our account with your mailing address.

Some of our IT staff and engineers also starred in a For Whom the SYN ACKs video. Watch it below and share with your colleagues!